1. How I've found wonderful human beings through the internet and the blogosphere to share my ups and downs, to support and encourage and understand me. I would never have made it without all of you people.
2. When I've been whiny and annoying (even in my own ears/mind), yet hubby still tells me, "I love you anyway, honey." That is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard in my life.
3. Watching autumn colours, especially the red colour (my fave autumn colour) surrounding me...and noticing a squirrel running about cautiously in our yard.
4. Hubby let me eat the last cup of chocolate pudding. (FYI: I bought 4 cups and ate 2 cups, but when the last cup was still in the fridge, I asked hubby if he wanted it or not and he said, "Nah, you can have it 'coz you like it so much.")
5. Getting a permanent part-time job contract means that I had some spare money to buy some things for my in-laws - I bought FIL a warm jacket (with fleece lining inside) and a pair of warm socks for MIL when I visited them the other day and they were happy to get them. ;-D
6. Meeting new foreigners in this small village on my Finnish course and laughing with them when we talked about different topics. In a small village where foreigners are rare, it's always a PLEASURE to meet fellow "comrades-in-arms".
7. Looking back over the past and realizing that God's closed doors led me to this job. If there hadn't been those closed doors, I wouldn't have ended up here. THANK GOD for His closed doors, even though at that time I felt sad and dejected (esp. when I couldn't continue at the daycare) and I didn't understand why they were there.
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8. Having a hubby who knows how to do coining (scraping my back with a coin and some balm). It's VERY VERY beneficial for me 'coz I do need his help sometimes in this area.
9. Living in a small village where there's no traffic jam, less noise, no long queues at the supermarkets/stores, where I can be close to nature.
10. Meeting friendly, warm, patient customers. They're the highlight of my day at work.
Just wanna share about my training again. This month is my last month at the daycare. A week ago I asked the boss if I could possibly continue there and she said yes. But I had to contact the employment office 'coz they're the ones who make the final call when it comes to this type of training. Turned out that a new law prohibited me from doing this type of training 'coz I had collected 12 months of training in different places. I was so bummed when I heard about this, 'coz I was already thinking that I could spend 4 more months with the kids instead of just one more month with them.
Then I started to think about going back to school first - the kind of vocational school where I could study for about 3 years that would enable me to become a daycare worker once I graduated. The first batch of application was last month and I was thinking that there might be another one in July if they needed more students to apply. So I contacted them to find out about this. Turned out that they had too many applicants already this year, so they advised me to try to apply for next year instead.
So next month I'll be unemployed again and I won't even be able to try to find another training place 'coz I've used up my "quota". The only thing I can do is either try to run my own business or find a suitable course organized by the employment office. I can of course try to wait for other opportunities to apply to the vocational school, but I'm not too sure about studying other subjects.
So I've had slammed doors twice this month and I'm just trying to believe that God has the best plans for me and that any door is closed, it's for my own benefit (even if I don't understand it). When I first heard about the fact that I couldn't continue the training there, I was so sad that I wanted to cry, but right now my defensive mode is on, so I'll be fine. I just hope that I won't cry on my last day there when I have to say goodbye to the kids, 'coz then they'll be confused. So if you're the praying type, pray so that I will NOT cry that day, please!!!
Other than that, life's been GREAT...spring has come and the weather's been rather cold this week, but I can see some green grass already in some parts of the village...
P.S. Oh, and although most of the time the kids at the daycare are pretty good, they still need to be reminded over and over again to behave, especially when they're in "challenging mode" or when they're in a bad mood or when they're cranky.
Some of them have grown closer to me, but my problem is that they still don't obey my words as well as they do the teacher or the senior workers there. Probably 'coz they know I'm only a temp worker or for some reason I think they tend to think of me more as a playmate instead of an adult he he he...but nevertheless I've learnt SO MUCH by doing the training here and I've learnt so many more interesting Finnish terms/words that I wouldn't have been able to learn on my own ('coz I wouldn't have known that they existed!).
So we'll see what door will be open for me in the future...:-)))
The first time this concept was brought to me like a huge WHAM in front of my face was a few years ago. Recently a friend of mine is learning this concept herself. She found a closed door and she's trusting God and thanking Him for this closed door. She knows that God knows what's best for her, even though it's difficult to understand why.
Her email reminded me of the value of closed doors. How many times are we grateful for closed doors? Probably MUCH less often than our gratefulness towards open doors, since we rarely understand the value of closed doors. Even if we do come to that understanding, it usually comes much later.
I remember that after September 11th, there were many TV shows concerning that incident and I remember that some of them couldn't go to work on time due to some problems (a flat tyre, a sick child). That day they would have probably cursed the "problems" they had that made them unable to go to work on time, but I can imagine their gratefulness once they found out that it was actually a blessing in disguise.
I realize that sometimes we try SO hard to open doors ourselves and sometimes we even try to open one particular closed door over and over again with all our might without realizing that it might be best to leave it there and then.
But anyway, we live, we learn. Mistakes don't make us. We are not our mistakes. :-))))
